Hylton in a far better place after hamstring worries

Hatters boss Nathan Jones admitted that striker Danny Hylton is in a much better place after the club appear to have got to the bottom of his hamstring problem.

The leading marksman missed Town’s matches with Grimsby and Wycombe, but was back on the bench against Exeter City at the weekend.

Although he replaced new signing Jake Jervis late on, the 17-goal forward didn’t look fully over the problem, with Jones conceding afterwards that they weren’t sure what was causing the issue.

However, speaking to the press this afternoon, the Luton chief said: “We’re a bit more knowledgeable now what was wrong with Hylton, so he’s in a far better place than he was a week ago.

“Mentally he was a bit frustrated because he’s so important we push him out, but Hylts is in a far better place now, he really is.

“It’s a niggly one because it was his hamstring, but he wasn’t pulling his hamstring, it was just referred pain, so we’ve been able to get to the bottom of that.”

On whether he can feature in the trip to Stevenage this weekend, Jones continued: “We hope now that to the end of the season we’re going to get him playing as many games as we possibly can.

“Then if we do that, we know we’re a better side when Danny Hylton is in the team.”

Meanwhile, on the availability of fellow striker Elliot Lee, who suffered a shoulder problem in the 3-2 defeat to Wycombe recently, Jones said: “We don’t really know, it was all good news on the scans, so it’s just now about managing the pain.

“He’s obviously in a bit of discomfort, there's nothing structurally wrong with him, so it’ll be how much he can handle the pain.

“Now if we don’t see him for these next two games (Stevenage and Crawley), we hope we do, but if we don’t, then we’ve got a bit of a break where we can hopefully get back to a full squad and it will be then a full squad.”

The injury came just when Lee looked to have picked up some form too, scoring twice against the Chairboys, taking his tally to nine for the campaign.

Jones said: “That’s the thing, it’s happened to one or two.

“People like Gambin when he got in, then he went away (with Malta) and picked up niggles, that’s part and parcel of being a footballer.

“The thing is with our squad, we’re very strong in certain areas, well most areas to be fair.

“So when someone does miss out, it’s difficult to get back in, I hope that’s the case, because it means we’re playing well.”

When asked about the rest of his squad, Jones added: “We’ve still got a few niggling little injuries.

“We are strong, but then the ones like (Scott) Cuthbert and (Johnny) Mullins won’t be quite right, so that’s the only thing really.

“Others have improved and we’re getting somewhere, so that’s a good thing.”